Goodbye ‘Regular Show,’ The Only Show That Understands Why Work Sucks

After eight seasons, seven years, and 261 episodes, one of Cartoon Network’s most bizarre shows came to an end this month. Regular Show, a cartoon that followed the adventures of a blue jay and raccoon best friend duo who hated work, concluded with an epic and metal one-hour finale on January 16. Despite its name, it was a series that was anything but regular.

J. G. Quintel’s Regular Show was always an outlier in Cartoon Network’s lineup of oddball content. The series had both the chill stoner-esque rhythms and the over-the-top plots to make it work for Adult Swim, but it was also clean and surprisingly sweet enough to fit in with the rest of Cartoon Network’s programming. Regular Show followed the adventures of Rigby (William Salyers) and Mordecai (Quintel), two best friends who work together in a park. That’s basically it. Most of the series’ episodes involve Rigby and Mordecai coming up with an elaborate plan to get out of working only to have a more ridiculous event or character foil their wishes. Arcade games transform into giant robots. Guitars summon rock gods. There’s a Party Horse, a Sad Sax Guy (Jason Mantzoukas), and a High Five Ghost. It’s an insane series, but it’s insane in the cool and understated way only Cartoon Network and its fellow late night block can get away with.

Ever since its first episode, the series has been embraced by fans and praised by critics, largely because of its conversational pacing and its delightful middle school rock drawing-esque animation. The series has been nominated for four Emmy Awards, winning for the episode “Eggscellent.” However, the main reason I always loved this weird and relaxing series was because Regular Show just gets what it’s like to work.

Rigby and Mordecai are certainly not career-driven. They work the grounds for a park they don’t care about, and they’re clearly more interested in playing video games than being a model employees. That being said, the show is never hostile to its working conditions. There are no sneering jokes about the park or pointed looked to the camera like in other workplace comedies such as The I.T. Crowd or The Office. Rather, it’s the show’s protagonists who are the ridiculous ones, not the company they work for. If it were up to Rigby and Mordecai, they would never work again, but they need money, so of course that’s what they’re going to end up doing every day of their lives. They may complain about it, but that’s what they have to do. If you’ve ever been stuck at a dead-end job, you can probably relate.

The series also nails the weirdly intimate friendships you form with your co-workers. Though it is frustrating that there are no women in the show’s central cast of characters, it’s interesting to see a series dive into co-worker relationships without the possibility of romantic entanglements floating around. They may be annoying at times but Skips (Mark Hamill), Benson, Pops, Muscle Man (Sam Marin), and Hi-Five Ghost (Quintel) are all there for each other. They’re family in their own unexpected way. Yet the show will occasionally interrupt these bonding moments, awkwardly and unexpectedly throwing in a character’s real name or previously unknown marital status. Those are work friendships — familiarity punctuated with the sobering realization you don’t know the person you’re talking to.

Through all of these adventures, Regular Show has always managed to be entertaining, fun, sweet, and perhaps most importantly refreshing. Like Steven Universe and Over the Garden Wall, the series follows a long line of children’s programming that nails mature themes and relationships better than many mainstream shows. I’m very happy Regular Show ended on its own terms, going out in the most epic way possible. But this one still hurts.